Psalm 23:4 – Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death …
When I read of hardships encountered by people who later become famous, I usually wonder how they were able to overcome their harsh surroundings and move on to make incredible contributions with their lives. Maya Angelou was one such person. This week, I’d like to look at another. While I knew her name, I never really knew much about her – other than the fact that she was an abolitionist.
Sojourner Truth was born into slavery with the name Isabelle Baumfree. She was born in 1797 in the state of New York, where its citizens could still legally own slaves. For $100, a slave holder purchased Sojourner at age 9. In that $100 transaction, he also purchased a flock of sheep. Thus began Sojourner’s initiation into life on her own, absent her parents and any other form of emotional support. By age 13, she was sold two more times, and ended up with John and Elizabeth Dumont, who kept Sojourner until her eventual escape from slavery in 1826. By the approximate age of 18, Sojourner was forced to marry another slave, also owned by Dumont – named Thomas. In total, Sojourner had five children – James (partner unknown), Diana (a result of rape by her owner, John Dumont), and Peter, Elizabeth, and Sophia (all from husband Thomas). Rape among slave owners with their slaves was certainly not uncommon, and it is not known who fathered Sojourner’s firstborn son, James, who died in childhood.
Sojourner lived in New York at a time when laws were transitioning away from slavery and toward abolition laws. In keeping with this transition, The Gradual Emancipation Act of 1799 was passed to gradually eliminate slavery from the state. There were many stipulations to emancipation, however, including age and gender. When slaveholder Dumont reneged on a promise to free Sojourner in 1826, she escaped and took her youngest child, Sophia, with her. Left behind were her husband Thomas and their remaining children, all still in slavery. While it was heartwrenching to leave her family, Sojourner could simply not remain. Years of physical and emotional abuse compelled her to move on. Isaac and Maria Van Wagenen from New Paltz, New York, took in Sojourner and her child, and they helped to negotiate a legal freedom from Dumont, so that Sojourner would not be a slave “on the run”. She remained with them for several years and even legally took on their last name.
Sojourner gained confidence in her own “voice” when she filed a legal charge against her former slave owner, Dumont, who had illegally sold her son Peter at the age of five. Peter had eventually been sold to an Alabama family and had been shipped down south. With the help of the Wagenens, Sojourner won the case against Dumont in New York. The Alabama family was forced to return Peter to Sojourner’s care, and she became the first black woman to ever win a court case against a white man.
On Pentecost Sunday, June 1, 1843, Sojourner underwent a spiritual transformation. Influenced by her support family, the Wagenens, Sojourner dedicated her life to the Christian faith. It was then that she changed her legal name from Isabelle Wagenen to Sojourner Truth, She felt called by God to share his word and spread “Truth” as she “Sojourned” through the remainder of her life. She remained true to this calling and became a noted speaker and evangelist, not just of the gospel message, but of the need for the abolition of slavery and for the legislative acknowledgement of women’s rights. Sojourner’s speeches inspired and fueled the burgeoning abolitionist movement, and throughout her later years her influence was right there along with greats such as Frederick Douglas, Harriett Tubman, and Susan B. Anthony. In 1864, she was invited to the White House by Lincoln himself who knew of her recruiting efforts and support of black Union soldiers.
A prolific speaker, Sojourner is remembered well for a speech she gave in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention. Her impassioned speech was unofficially and famously entitled the “Ain’t I a Woman” speech. While modern historians debate whether Sojourner ever used those exact words, that particular speech was one of many that laid bare the plight of black women, whose voice was not only squelched by race but also by their very gender. Having never learned to read or write, Sojourner dictated her autobiography to Olive Gilbert who wrote Sojourner’s autobiography, covering her life as a slave and her battle to right so many of the wrongs she had suffered in her early life. It was published in 1851 and helped to support Sojourner as she continued projecting her voice into the abolition movement, as well as advocating for women’s rights.
Personally, I am astounded that women like Sojourner Truth or Maya Angelou were ever able to function in life, let alone excell in their respective time periods. Many an individual who has suffered such pain, trauma, and loss succumbs to emotional paralysis. Both Sojourner and Maya found healing in advocacy. Their pain propelled them to relieve the pain and injustices of others. Many times in my writings on both women, I have felt completely inadequate to fully put into words their traumatic life experiences and the positive contributions they made, in spite of it all. Their lives go so far beyond the capacity of writing! Thank you, Lord, for the hope found in these women who overcame so much, advocated so passionately, and truly helped to change their worlds.
Blessings to all in the week to come,
Diana
Resources:
National Women’s History Museum, Sojourner Truth –
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sojourner-truth
History, Sojourner Truth – https://www.history.com/articles/sojourner-truth
Wikipedia, Sojourner Truth – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_Truth
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